Pet Peeves (A Special Thanks To Hansel)

[I'llhavethat1]

you guys both meant adventurine right?

[lstmmrbls]

I sure do not. I have no idea what adventurine is. But then your probably just bringing up a pet peeve

[Stefan]

It grates me people call the aventurine found on machine made marbles Lutz.

I apologize for this, i didn't knew it better

[ann]

It comes from the Italian word aventura, more-or-less meaning "by adventure," Basically, by mistake. It was an accidental discovery by an Italian glassmaster back in the 1600s. I forget the exact date. I'm old.

There might be 2 Vs in the Italian, too. I forget that as well. I haven't spoken or read Italian since, ah, 1978. Or thereabouts.

[ann]

Speaking of words. I have several pet peeves involving the use of some of them. Call me a pedantic old fuddy duddy. I DON'T CARE.

For a recent example: it seems to have become fashionable over the last decade for television announcers, during the Olympics, to say in a very grand voice, "Welcome to the games of the twenty-second Olympiad," instead of just saying "Welcome to the 22nd Olympic Games." Or just "Welcome to the 22nd Olympics."

So there aren't that many people who have spent an inordinate amount of time studying the deep past in other parts of the world, OK, I know that, and "22nd Olympiad" sounds more serious than "the 22nd Olympic Games." I get it. But I am one of those people, and so are a few of my equally annoyed friends.

You see, to the ancient Greeks, an Olympiad was the four-year interval between Olympic Games. It's how they measured time. You have your Games. Then you have your Olympiad, Then you have your Games. Then you have your Olympiad. What you do NOT have is Olympic Games in an Olympiad. No "Games of the 22nd Olympiad," or of any other Olympiad, for that matter.

Drives me freakin' crazy.

I feel better now.

Maybe later I'll bring up "apocolypse."

[kbobam]

Hey, Ann!

Please continue to bring up things!

Especially when they're interesting and in addition are just

so wrong that they need to be pointed out.

I've recently come to accept, kicking and screaming, that

language does change. But I'm only willing to do this in the

sense of a slow social progression that half-way makes sense.

Suddenly deciding that a word means its exact opposite in

some form of mass hypnotic stupidity doesn't cut it. ( :

[ann]

OK, kbobam! Just for you.

So. In general, most people hear the word "apocalypse" and think end of the world, the earth cracking open, fire from the sky, plagues of flies, and whatnot.

But the thing is, it doesn't mean that. This bothered me in a general grumbling-under-my-breath kind of way, but it REALLY norked off my linguist friend. So I would just pat him on the hand whenever it came up (like when watching history and science channels on TV) and leave it at that. I thought it was so entrenched as a meaning that it would be hopeless to struggle . . . .

Then, Mel Gibson came out with this movie he called "Apocalypto," and a voice-over preview for it said something like "Apocalypto . . . means a new beginning."

That tore it. Ass#ole.

Apocalypse is from the Greek apokalypsis . . . to UNVEIL, to uncover, to reveal.

All that asteroids falling / armies marching / horsemen loose on redblackwhitepale horses stuff was what the John who wrote "Revelations" saw. During his apocalyptic experience. Moses also had an apocalyptic experience (in which the 10 commandments were revealed to him). Many others have as well --wandering around in a desert for a good while seems like a fairly reliable trigger. But you don't even have to be a Christian to have an apocalyptic experience. I won't even go into the LSD25 thing. Ahem.

So really, when, for instance, you say "the four horsemen of the apocalypse," you're really saying "the four horsemen of John's vision in Revelations," not "the four horsemen that herald the end of the world."

Unless, of course they really do appear to us all on a physical plane, in which case all bets are off.

[kbobam]

Thanks!

I love the last line.

Although it's slightly similar to a legal disclaimer, the important thing is that it shows your

mind hasn't been turned off and that you're tuned in to infinite possibilities!

[stacyw]

So True Kbob!

And with the plague of stinkbugs around here, I am beginning to get nervous every time I hear a whinny.

And Ann, I too will cop to being a pedantic fuddy duddy but I do take exception to the "old" label.

[bermar]

Here's one of mine: I never say, "I am traveling to the Florida.", or "My friend lives in the Pennsylvania."

Why then do most news commentators speak of the Ukraine? They don't refer to the Russia.

It's not "the Ukraine", it's "Ukraine".

I have visited Ukraine. I have never been able to find the Ukraine.

Now that I have read what I have written, I conclude it may not be important.

Let me know if you represent. Did I use that word correctly?

[westcoast_dave]

Why then do most news commentators speak of the Ukraine?

Before it's independence, Ukraine was referred to as The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. That could be why some still hold on to the "the".

One of my peeve's is the use of the phrase "game changer". It drives me nuts when I'm watching the political news and I hear the phrase, "this could be a real game changer".

[duffy]

maybe it means the best ,burt...like ..THE ohio state university....im just sayin...

[bermar]

You've got a good point there, Duffy. Kind of like... The Steve... Like setting him apart for all others. I like that.

There is no other Steve like The Steve. Don't mean to offend the other guys....just sayin'

[lstmmrbls]

It did used to be known as The Ukraine. saying it today is wrong and does rankle many Ukrainians. Here you go folks, this ought to get you going.

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors